


In the dark

by vanjie_love



Series: Autumn Leaves [5]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race (US) RPF
Genre: Broken Bones, F/F, Fluff, Haunted Houses, Hurt/Comfort, Kidfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27052126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanjie_love/pseuds/vanjie_love
Summary: “Oh, Nessa, what happened?”“I fell….” Vanessa pouts, “and someone stepped on me. They stepped on me, Brooke!”Brooke suppressed a chuckle, she didn’t want to make Vanessa feel worse.
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Series: Autumn Leaves [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1942153
Comments: 17
Kudos: 26





	In the dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoldenBHytes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenBHytes/gifts).



> For my fave:  
> Thank you for being such a good friend. I know you have been working so hard and I just hope this makes you smile. I love you
> 
> Thank you to campvanjie for all your help with this one!

Vanessa never thought that she could ever love Halloween and Fall more than she already did. That was, until her and Brooke started a family. They'd been married for three years when they decided to adopt. They went with a private adoption with a young girl on the other side of the state. Her name was Angela and she was kind. They didn't know her reasons for not wanting to keep her baby, and they didn't need nor want to know. The mother decided pretty early on that she wanted to go the adoption route, which meant that Brooke and Vanessa were able to be involved fairly early on. 

So when Angela went for her ultrasound to hear the heartbeat, Brooke and Vanessa got to go with her. That day, everything changed, they left that appointment anxious, excited, and scared with the knowledge that they were going to be mommies to twins. 

Chloe and Noah were born at the end of September, giving Vanessa and Brooke another reason to love the fall season. 

Despite being adopted, the twins were the best of Brooke and Vanessa. Chloe was loud and adventurous like Vanessa, yet elegant like Brooke. Noah was charming like Vanessa and sensitive and witty like Brooke. They were a good mixture. 

Vanessa was excited about one particular Halloween when the twins were six. They had the cutest costumes planned. Chloe and Noah were going to be Dorothy and the Lion and Vanessa was going to be the Scarecrow and Brooke was going to be the Tin Man from  _ The Wizard of Oz. _

Noah was especially excited because  _ 'I'ma be the lion mama, just like Henry'.  _ He would give them his brightest smile as he said so too. But when Halloween rolled around, plans had to change. 

The night before Halloween, Brooke agrees she will stay with the kids while Vanessa has a girls night with A'keria and Silky. Girls night for them includes a trip to one of the newer Haunted Houses in town, and Vanessa is so excited. 

"You sure you don't wanna go, Brookie?"

"Ness, I haven't been to a haunted anything since Bloodfield and we saw how that turned out."

Vanessa smiles sheepishly at the memories of her having fun and Brooke being scared to death. She still felt awful when she thought about it and it's been 8 years. 

"Alright, baby, well I love you." Vanessa kissed her wife and told her kids to be good for mommy, and left for A'keria's.

"This is supposed to be the scariest haunted house around!" Vanessa bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to see how much farther in the line they had. 

They were so close, Vanessa could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"You ain't gonna get scared like Miss Brookie Tookie are ya?" Silky asked, a sly smirk on her face.

"Silks, one, don't call her that, and two, hell no bitch!"

Vanessa loved this kind of thing. She had never gotten to share it with her two best friends but here they were. 

There was a creaking sound as the gates opened and the crowd pushed through. Vanessa, Silky and A'keria held hands so they wouldn't get separated. They made it through most of the house without complications but they turned a corner and came face to face with zombies. 

_ This is a new one  _ Vanessa thinks to herself, and she doesn't like it. Zombies in movies are one thing, but zombies in front of her, reaching out to her, that's another thing entirely. 

_ Go go go,  _ she thinks, wanting to push her friends forward. She almost does, but instead she rushes forward a little while glancing back at the same time. She was hardly paying attention to her surroundings, she was rushing for the exit of the room, and it happened way too fast. She fell, she came up on a staircase and didn't know it. Her foot slipped and she tumbled down the stairs. A couple of people saw her but many didn't. It was so dark. She tried to get up but something-  _ someone?- _ pushed her down. That's when she felt it- a crack or a snap in her foot. 

_ Shit!  _ Tears gathered in her eyes. She needs to find her friends. Finally someone helps her up and she stumbles off to the side near an emergency light. 

"Vanessa!" She heard A'keria's voice and she answered with "over here!"

Vanessa braced herself on the wall for support.  _ Shit her foot hurt.  _ She tried to put weight on it and it only made more tears form in her eyes, so she slid down and sat back down on the floor. Within seconds, her friends are next to her, faces painted with concern. 

“V, you good?” A’kieria asked, looking her friend up and down.

“No, Kiki, I think somethin’ is wrong.” the tears finally spilled over.

_ I probably look so ridiculous,  _ Vanessa thought to herself. 

Before Vanessa could stop her, Silky whipped her phone out and called 911. Within ten minutes, an ambulance had pulled up, and much to Vanessa’s embarrassment, so did half of the haunted house staff. Vanessa could feel her foot swelling in her boot, she’d had enough injuries in the past to know that it was probably broken. She doesn’t know what is worse, the embarrassment, or the pain. 

The medics loaded her into the ambulance and started to close the doors. A’keria and Silky stood close by, watching.

“Wait!” Vanessa yelled, “Kiki, Silks, someone gotta call B!”   
“We’re already on it, Vanj, she will meet you at the hospital.”

Vanessa nodded and relaxed against the gurney. 

_ Wait, what about the kids?  _ The doors slammed shut before she had a chance to actually ask the girls, and Vanessa was being whisked away to the hospital.

Brooke rushed through the doors of the emergency department at the hospital she knew they brought Vanessa to and almost ran into the desk.

“Who...are you here to see ma’am?” the receptionist asked, taken aback by Brooke’s anxiousness.

“My wife, Vanessa. Vanessa Mateo-Hytes.”

The receptionist nodded, “room six.”

Brooke almost ran to the doors and had to wait a moment for them to automatically open. She went down the hall to room six and saw her wife laying in the bed with her right foot propped up.

“Oh, Nessa, what happened?” 

“I fell….” Vanessa pouts, “and someone stepped on me. They  _ stepped  _ on me, Brooke!” 

Brooke suppressed a chuckle, she didn’t want to make Vanessa feel worse.

“Have they done any scans?” 

Vanessa nodded, “just waitin’ on results.”

As if timed perfectly, the doctor entered the room. He introduced himself to Brooke and then turned to Vanessa.

“Good news and bad news,” the doctor starts, “you-”

“You gonna chop my leg off? I knew it.” Vanessa shakes her head, and the doctor just stares at her for a moment, unsure whether to laugh or not.

“Ignore her.” Brooke rolls her eyes, “what did the scan show?”

“Her foot is definitely broken, but she won’t need surgery. So we can go ahead and cast it up and then you’ll be on your way.” 

“That’s wonderful news. Right, V?”

“When will I be able to dance again?” Vanessa asks, “I’ve been through this multiple times, it’s always different.”

“We will take my xrays in 6 weeks to see where you’re at with healing. Until then- no weight bearing.”

Vanessa and Brooke both nod and the doctor leaves. Vanessa starts to cry.

“Baby, it’s alright, you’ll heal fast.”

“No, no that’s not it, B, I won’t be able to take the kids out on Halloween.”

Vanessa really was heartbroken. She was so excited for this. It was their first year going out with themed costumes. 

"Oh, sweetheart," Brooke wrapped her arms around Vanessa and wondered how much pain medication she's had. 

The staff comes in and makes quick work of casting Vanessa’s leg and soon they’re on their way out. The kids were fast asleep by the time their moms got home and Brooke got Vanessa settled on the couch. She wasn’t quite sure that they could get her up the stairs. Brooke sets up her bed on the loveseat. 

“Brookie, you can sleep in the bed.’ Vanessa says. 

“I don’t want to sleep there without you.” Brooke pouts, and Vanessa thinks it’s cute, “plus you might need help in the middle of the night.”

Vanessa smiles, unable to keep her eyes open, “alright Brookie, I love you.”

“Mommy, mommy!” Chloe calls Brooke from the living room. 

“Shh, doll, don’t wake up mama.” Brooke walked into the living room, Vanessa was passed out on the couch.

“Mommy!” Chloe whispered, “what happened?”

“Baby, mama fell, she got hurt, so we have to be super careful of her for a bit ok?”

Chloe stuck her hand out and touched the cast.

“I’ll tell you what, go get your brother and you guys can draw something on it for mama, I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Chloe’s face lit up and she ran for the stairs, “Noah! Noah come here!”

Brooke got out the markers and the kids got to work while she went back to the kitchen.

  
  


“Shhh, Noah, don’t wake mama.” Chloe’s sweet little voice floated into Vanessa’s dreams. 

“No  _ you  _ don’t wake mama, Chlo-eeee!” Vanessa’s eyes fluttered open and she stifled a giggle at her son’s sass.

“What ya’ll doin?” Vanessa asked, looking at her kids who were standing by her propped up leg. 

Her back felt stiff from the couch but otherwise she felt good.

“Mama, mommy said we could draw on your leg.” Chloe beamed at her. 

“She did, huh?”

The kids nod in unison. 

“Well what did you draw?”

“A flower.” Chloe said at the same time Noah said “a dinosaur”.

Vanessa looked down at her cast. What would look like a bunch of scribbles to anyone else was a beautiful flower and the cutest darn dinosaur that she had ever seen. Ugh, she loved her kids. 

“Well ya did a good job, guys.” Vanessa sniffed the air, she smelled cinnamon and syrup, “is mommy makin breakfast?”

“Mommy is making pancakes!” Chloe jumped up and down and clapped.

Brooke comes into the living room with a tray of pancakes, bacon, and orange juice. 

“Hi baby,” the blonde smiles and kisses her wife on the top of her head.

“Hey B, you made breakfast?”

“It’s Halloween, of course I did. Noah, Chloe, mama and I have to talk to you about Trick or Treat tonight.” 

The two little kids erupted in a fit of squeals and giggles, which made this so much harder for Brooke and Vanessa. 

“Guys,” Vanessa starts, “you know I’m hurt right?”

The kids nodded. 

“Okay, well,” Vanessa takes a deep breath, “we can’t go Trick or Treating tonight because I can’t walk around with you guys.”

Noah and Chloe looked like every single bit of happiness had been sucked out of them as they looked from their mama to their mommy in horror.

“No...no candy?” Chloe said after a minute.

“Well, mama and I will buy our own candy for you guys, and we can still get you dressed up in your costumes, we just can’t go out to the different houses.”

The kids looked at each other, and Vanessa knew their little hearts were broken.

“I’m sorry guys,” Vanessa says softly, “we can have a movie night tonight and mommy can build a blanket fort here and we will eat candy. How does that sound?”

The kids’ faces lit up a little.

“Can we watch Scooby-Doo?” Chloe asked, a skeptical look on her face like  _ maybe _ her mama was joking.

“We can watch Scooby-Doo if your brother is okay with it.” Brooke says.

Noah hesitated a little, a nervous look on his little face, but he eventually agreed after seeing the excitement in his sisters eyes. 

“You won’t get scared?” Brooke asks him. 

He shakes his head, “no, mommy, I’m a big kid, I can watch Scooby-Doo.”

Brooke smiles and kisses the top of Noah’s head, “that’s my boy.”

  
  


Brooke spends all afternoon making sure that the blanket fort is perfect while Vanessa helps the kids with their costumes from the chair. Evening rolled around and everyone was dressed in their  _ Wizard of Oz  _ best and Brooke was taking pictures of everyone. Vanessa laid down on the pillows and blankets on the floor with the kids while Brooke got the popcorn. She felt so bad that Brooke was doing all of the work but she just wasn’t that sturdy on crutches. 

“I wanna lay next to mama.” Noah said.

Vanessa’s heart swelled with pride as Noah laid close to her and she tickled his side. 

“Are you ready for the movie my little lion?”

Noah giggled and nodded. Chloe squealed as Brooke pressed play. 

The movie was over, the credits glowing in the dark room. The kids had made it almost to the end of the movie, but just couldn’t fight sleep. Noah was the first to fall asleep and Chloe wasn’t too far behind him. 

“We can’t move them, we might as well sleep here.” Brooke said softly, looking at her sleeping angels.

“I’m comfy, ain’t you?”

Brooke nodded. Vanessa covered them all up with a blanket and started to drift off. 

Vanessa was in a deep sleep when something started to urge her awake. 

"Mama…" Noah nudged her shoulder, "mama, wakeup."

She opened her eyes and Noah's big blue eyes were full of concern and tears. For being adopted, he sure did look a lot like Brooke, and Vanessa was happy about that.

"Hi sweet boy," she whispered, "what's wrong?"

"Mama, I had a bad dream," Noah sniffles. 

Vanessa turns on her side and faces Noah, "do you wanna tell me about it?"

Noah shakes his head. He's a big boy now, big boys don't have nightmares, "being scared is for babies."

Vanessa brushes his hair back out of his eyes. He really does need a haircut, maybe next weekend.

"Baby, it's ok to be scared. Can I tell you a secret?"

Noah nods.

"I was a little scared. The other night when I got hurt."

"You did?" His eyes got wide and his jaw dropped. His mama- his hero and protector- got  _ scared?! _

"I did. But it's okay, because being scared doesn't mean I'm a baby, and it doesn't mean you are either. It just means that there are things in this world we don't like. I got scared, and that's okay. I need you to promise me something though. Don't tell mommy our secret ok?"

Noah nods again, "Mama, will you rub my back till I fall asleep?"

"Sure baby, lay on your tummy."

Vanessa helps Noah get settled and fall asleep, and on the other side of the fort, Brooke laid on her side. She smiled faintly to herself as she listened to the soft whispers of her son and the love of her life. Seeing her be so vulnerable with them was Brooke's favorite thing, and if she made a mental note to tease Vanessa about being scared, then nobody needed to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Come clown or send prompte to @/vanjiestoes on Tumblr


End file.
